After several days with too much time away from home, the list of kitchen jobs waiting for me was a mile long! Kelly is coming home tomorrow after 24 days of out of town work, so I really wanted to get it all done before he gets home so we can relax and enjoy the weekend together.
The apples needed processing, so we set up an assembly line (washing, pressure cooking, milling, simmering, jarring, pressure canning). I mixed crabapples with the freecycle apples that I received over the weekend to create a basic but tasty applesauce. I have no time for pie making, as I'm stretched too thin at the moment, so applesauce it is! I can use it in baking as well as a topping for oatmeal and ice cream.
Dump cooked whole apples into the hopper of my Bosch grinder attachment which leads to the berry press (basically, a food mill).
Out comes the skins, seeds and stems into the bowl but....
underneath, the pulp and juice is collected! How easy is THAT? No prep time, no cutting chopping and peeling, no stemming... I am very thankful for my Bosch Kitchen Machine and it's attachments as I use them all the time. Tools like this machine and my pressure cookers are what I consider to be worthwhile investments. I use them constantly!
After simmering on the stovetop for a while with some cinnamon and bit of sugar, the applesauce was ladled into jars and pressure cooked.
17 jars of organic applesauce are cooling on my counter as I type and it feels so good to get that done.
On to tomatoes... those 100 lbs that I harvested? Well, they are starting to ripen with a vengeance :)
As they ripen, I quarter them, coat in olive oil, sprinkle seasonings and roast until just turning brown on top. After a quick trip through the food processor, it all simmers while I add more seasonings and spices to taste.
I also made 4 loaves of wholewheat bread and some cookies. No pictures of that - I was really hopping today and wasn't taking pictures of everything I did - we were juggling some schoolwork in between batches :) It all worked out - as the pressure cookers were processing, I could read to the kids or work on math with them... we got it all done somehow without rushing - just steady progress all day.
In spite of being a long day full of kitchen work, it feels really good to get it all done. A whole day's mess, yes, but if I'm in the kitchen anyways (to monitor my pressure cookers), I might as well be making something else ~ and if the oven is warm from roasting tomatoes, I might as well be baking something in it after they come out...
I have to admit though, that I'm really feeling tired of canning... I'm grateful for the food, but I'm more than ready for some winter work :) The slower pace and the shorter days with more time to rest and read will be a welcome change of pace...
Ahhhh... soon!
I thought that first picture of hte food mill was the whole apple, and I thought, gosh, that's kinda gross looking. Then I read the caption that said skins and seeds. Okay, I see and understand!
ReplyDeleteYes, you've done LOTS of canning, and I bet you fall exhausted into bed at night. I hope you enjoy the weekend with Hubby!
Wow, your food looks delicious (and healthy!). I bet your kitchen smells so good. That is a neat machine. I'll have to write down that machine's name if I'm ever in the market for one. love,andrea
ReplyDeleteAndrea, I use my Bosch every day. Bread, baking, pasta, grinding meat, sausage making, citrus pressing, blenderizing, etc... It's the ONE thing I could not do without if I had to choose.
ReplyDeleteHi Sherri! The dill-called-Rose just noticed your blog link in your sig at the forum -- can we say s-l-o-w? Here I am. :) I'm looking forward to reading through your archives this weekend.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! That machine is just brilliant! What a time-saver it is.
ReplyDeletedear sherri,
ReplyDeletewow!!!!!so many good things have you make with your great bosch-küchenmaschine.I have a Braun ...
but my dream-kitchenhelper is a Kitchen-Aid,but they are very expensive here in germany.
have a nice time,
regina
Regina, I burned out my "professional" Kitchen Aid! The KA mixer was 600 watts but the Bosch is 800W of RAW power! A much more powerful machine PLUS a 20 year warranty sold me - not to mention it's versatility. The attachments are numerous and extremely effective and it's capacity is stunning - it holds (and kneads) 18 cups of WHOLE WHEAT flour plus liquid! Mine has been working hard every day for over 3 years without a single glitch.
ReplyDelete